At a time when Washington is focused on policies that impact middle- and low-income workers, the average CEO of a public company made $9.6 million in 2011, up more than 6 percent over the previous year, the Associated Press reports.

This is the second-straight year salaries went up for the heads of public companies. CEOs, however, were given less in cash bonuses, and more in stock rewards, in an effort to motivate company performance.

The AP also highlighted the 10 highest-paid CEOs in 2011, with David Simon, of Simon Property Group, topping the list at $137.2 million last year, up 458 percent from the previous year.

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